Welcome to Kindling: introductions, practicalities and settling in
4:30–6:30
Opening Workshop
6:30–8:30
Collective dinner
8:45 onward
Informal conversation, independent writing — or sleep for ye of long travel!
Tuesday — Sparks & Fascinations
Time
Programme
7:00–9:00
Quiet morning / optional early swim
9:00–9:30
Breakfast / optional Morning Pages in the conservatory
9:30–11:30
Workshop
11:30–12:00
Tea break
12:00–1:00
Guided Writing: The Things I Can’t Stop Thinking About
1:00–2:00
Lunch
2:00–6:30
Open Afternoon — protected writing time, reading, wandering, creative play, or optional one-to-one manuscript conferences
6:30–7:30
Collective dinner with our writing tutor
7:45–9:00
After Dark — sharing great words from great authors
9:00 onward
Informal gathering / independent writing / free time
Wednesday — Playing with Fire
Time
Programme
7:00–9:00
Quiet morning / optional early swim
9:00–9:30
Breakfast / optional Morning Pages in the conservatory
9:30–11:30
Workshop
11:30–12:00
Tea break
12:00–1:00
Guided Writing: Steal This Idea — games, prompts, first lines and the beginning of our communal store of ideas
1:00–2:00
Lunch
2:00–4:00
Open Afternoon — independent writing, optional ramble or wander, reading, creative play, or one-to-one manuscript conferences
4:00–4:30
Tea and cake
4:30–5:30
Workshop in the Wild + Reciprocity — conversation with a firefighter, followed by the extremely responsible setting alight of minor fireworks
5:30–6:30
Break
6:30–7:30
Collective dinner
7:45–9:15
Kindling Open Mic Night — participant readings, unfinished things, experiments and works in progress welcome
9:15 onward
Fireside gathering / independent writing / free time
Thursday — Keep the Fire Going
Time
Programme
7:00–8:00
Quiet morning / optional early swim
8:00–9:00
Breakfast / optional Morning Pages in the conservatory
9:00–9:45
Working Breakfast: Where Does the Work Go? — sharing our experiences with editors, submissions, agents and publication possibilities
9:45–10:30
Closing Guided Writing: The Box of Matches/Final Kindling Notebook — gathering the first lines, questions, images, fascinations, fragments and ideas we want to carry into our writing lives
10:30–11:00
Closing Circle — and don’t forget to autograph the Story Burn canvas!
11:00
Retreat concludes
Core Anchor Texts
Used in Workshops and at Readings
We’ll read selected excerpts together. There is no expectation that you arrive having read any of these works. You’re welcome to bring other texts that speak to the week’s theme, or just to enjoy the collection presented.
Dodie Smith — I Capture the Castle
The irresistible urge to capture the world in words.
A. S. Byatt — Possession
Literary obsession and the exhilaration of following an idea.
Gabrielle Zevin — Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
The compulsion to keep making things.
Robin Sloan — Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
Books, puzzles, curiosity, and the delight of following a fascination to see where it leads.
Gerald Durrell — My Family and Other Animals
The sheer pleasure of being completely absorbed in what you love.
Anne Lamott — Bird by Bird
We all know this text. Coming back to eat to remind us how to keep our fires burning
